FFXIV ARR "Easy Mode"

[NarwhalShadowsun]

There is a valid point buried somewhere in this thread. The issue isn't really that coil is the only content in the game, the issue is that CT is going to be completely useless content. The direction of making -easier- content to bridge into Coil is NOT the direction this game needs. It's something they had planned from the start but foresight after launch should tell them that it's a huge problem.

If you want some perspective, FFXIV is my friend's first MMORPG. He had no clue how to play it, was confused while leveling, ect. He's now cleared up to Turn 3 in Binding Coil. He managed to learn the game as a total beginner to the genre, and now he is half cleared the content that is the highest level content for the next, what, six months? Crystal Tower cannot launch as easier content than coil or the game might actually just die. Which is a shame, because despite it's glaring flaws It's managed to be a very good experience thus far, and even pulled in some of my pickier MMO friends.

[l33tbmb]

There is a valid point buried somewhere in this thread...

This is about how I feel as well. It's disappointing to me that the entirety of the game until 50 is basically the tutorial for the actual game which only happens when you've "run out of things to do." I'm at an impasse, I really enjoyed the fact that capping your character WAS the challenge in other MMOs and hitting that cap really felt like an achievement. I don't like the change where you're ushered to cap ASAP to start grinding out gear. On the other hand, I'm no longer a kid with all the time in the world. I enjoy the speed at which I can accomplish things in XIV. I enjoy that I can come home from work and actually achieve some of the end game content that I wouldn't be able to do in a more hardcore MMO. So I don't know what to say... if they chose to increase the level cap in the future, I hope they do so in a way that makes you earn it rather than just handing it to you.

[NarwhalShadowsun]

I agree. I do enjoy that I don't have to play 24/7 to enjoy what the game has to offer, that being said, when I do sit down with a few friends to tackle a dungeon I expect a challenge. AK/WP ect, were sufficient challenge when I was a fresh 50, now that I'm overgeared for them it's not so much, but that's understandable. However, I can see myself hitting Coil relatively soon with my playgroup (Who is already at Turn 3), and if we complete it to Turn 5 before Crystal Tower comes out I'm not sure what to say. That's poor design, it's not even casual. I play casually, my friends play casually, and end game bosses are being farmed each week. Not really sure what can be done about that with their current content plan.

[l33tbmb]

I couldn't remember if CT was supposed to be the easymode raid and BC was the difficult one... I'm kind of hoping that CT will have been rebalanced to be the more challenging one now that BC has been all but completed by many. This is a tangent, but on the topic of new content more than anything I'm excited for variations and alternative gear so that I don't look like a cookie-cutter clone of everybody else. That, more than everything, bothers me the most.

[BlossomRose]

I couldn't remember if CT was supposed to be the easymode raid and BC was the difficult one... I'm kind of hoping that CT will have been rebalanced to be the more challenging one now that BC has been all but completed by many. This is a tangent, but on the topic of new content more than anything I'm excited for variations and alternative gear so that I don't look like a cookie-cutter clone of everybody else. That, more than everything, bothers me the most.

CT is the easiest one, and was pulled down because it was too hard and needed a lot of balancing, hilariously. So it will probably be pretty easy.

However, if people think the average raider or player is already wearing more than one or two pieces of BC gear, they need a reality check. BC gear is so unreliable, I've been doing it for 4 weeks on full turn 1-4 farm mode and I only have two pieces due to bad luck. Since BC is only 6 pieces of loot per week, you can't gear up an 8 man all that fast.

[Caraway]

Leveling all your classes to 50 pretty much means nothing, because leveling is nothing but a grind and the only thing it can measure is how much time you have to waste in your life.

Either way, people like you is why Legacy servers are looked upon so poorly by non-Legacy. We don't want to deal with super hardcore elitists from 1.0 who did everything and act like they know it all and it makes them better.

Not all Legacy servers have that sort of community, and I am extremely thankful I'm not on someone like the OP's server. Don't see much of that sort of thing where I am.


Back on topic though... I'm having fun. I like the pace of the content, the level of difficulty (because let's be honest... I would not want to deal with some of the FATE grinder folks in Duty Finder if things were legit hard mode).

I personally think SE's found a good sweet spot for difficulty for those who don't have a majority amount of time to rush rush rush through content.

The mechanics have enough crunch to make sure people are awake when doing things at iLVL for them, but not so much that you end up wanting to strangle the people you've been Duty Finder group'd with (not all of the time anyway!).

Again; I'm happy. Sorry to hear you're not. Maybe this isn't the game for you.

[PiedPiper]

Just because groups who have put in the hours of progression to master a fight can then farm a fight, doesn't mean its easy.

I'm not bragging, I know many groups progressed faster than we did, but:

60ish hours of progression on titan (all in ak gear with minimal dl near 2.0 launch) That win was amazing. We were so excited, so pumped, so satisfied. And now the fight is on farm for us. Doesn't mean its not fun, doesn't mean it can't still proc up a suprise challenge. Sure, I've got 8 relics now, but I worked really hard for the first one, and that was satisfying. Now I get to reap the reward of having the skill set to get all the others.

Coil turn 1: Whole new kind of fight, so different than previous encounters. Something like 5 hours of progression, and then we felt so legit. Look at us, we can do Binding coil too.

Turn 2: Man, errrybody done one, ain't no thang, but turn 2 is still beyond most pugs, so again, pretty satisfying. Nothing all that novel but still a fun fight for most party members, PHENOMENAL for the tanks. We FINALLY got a real co-tank fight, that actually required tanks to speak to each other and work together. It was and is great fun.

Turn 3: Mad sprint to the end, dodging everything and mocking those who die. Great fun

Turn 4: This fight is amazing, even better than titan. Stupendously more challenging than any previous fight. 13 hours of progression to be the first group in our FC to get the win. I love this fight, it actually made tanking enjoyable. Being the tank who picks up the knight and soldier that is dps'd first and with no hesitation by the dds actually requires near-perfect execution, its very sdatisfying even now that we have the fight down.


A lot of the game's content is really hard untill you beat it the first time. Then you get it, you farm it, and you move on. This has been ture of every single raid boss in every mmo ever. No matter how hard the fight is, once you start to win, it just becomes about repeating previous execution. Of course it seems easy when you look at the players who have experience and time invested. That's because we have lots of practice.

Hell, even lower level dungeons are this way. I thought brayflox was a great experience and a nice little challenge for its level when I was leveling scholar (admitedly, the lack of leeches might have been what made it feel slightly harder). Stone vigil was pretty sweet the first itme thoguh as well, many groups really struggle on darkhold before they get the fight.

Content difficulty is best measured by what it takes to get the first win, not the 8th win. Titan is very hard at first, as it should be. Trivial once you understand it, as is anything else in games and in life.

[ntall1]

Easy mode... lol
Relics and Darklight are endgame starter gear.
You ask for challenge, but I don't see that you have even cleared Turn 1 yet.

Starter gear for what? Raids that have not been released yet? By the time CT comes out everyone will have already out geared it making it trivial. It will be on farm just as bad as CM is now, and just as easy.

Titan and BC are this games end game. Once you have Titan down you get to wait a week for a shot at BC then you have nothing to do until the next patch. There are more things for me to do as a free player of Stronghold Kingdoms than there is in this game after lvl 50.

[LadyZola]

I'm only lvl 38 but I find the Sunken temple of Qarn quite challenging, so I disagree with OP

[Ageofwar]

I hope that people do know a few facts.

1) the game has only be out for a few months now

2) a lot of the content is still missing which is going to be added in future updates like the following:-

Wolf's Den
Frontlines
Moogle
Levitation
Shiva
Crystal tower
Hard mode dungeons
etc...

Not to mention further updates to coils